June 12, 20241 yr 23 minutes ago, ucnum1 said: Cincinnati NWSL expansion bid is from FC Cincinnati ownership.They already have the training facilities for a woman's franchise plus probably the top soccer specific stadium in the country.Add in TQL Stadium has hosted the US woman's national teams to a sold out venue multiple times in the last 3 years.Id say the Cincinnati bid is the heavy odds on favorite for this next expansion team. I will play devils advocate. Does it actually benefit a NWSL team to be in a market that already has an MLS team or would it be more beneficial to be in a market that currently does not have a professional soccer team at all so it would be the main draw in terms of soccer? Wouldn't there be a lot of people in Cinci who will have to decide whether they are going to switch their season tickets to NWSL over MLS? You wouldn't have that problem in Cleveland.
June 12, 20241 yr 37 minutes ago, TDi said: I will play devils advocate. Does it actually benefit a NWSL team to be in a market that already has an MLS team or would it be more beneficial to be in a market that currently does not have a professional soccer team at all so it would be the main draw in terms of soccer? Wouldn't there be a lot of people in Cinci who will have to decide whether they are going to switch their season tickets to NWSL over MLS? You wouldn't have that problem in Cleveland. Cincinnati already has a large built in market for Woman's soccer standing by itself. TV ratings in Cincinnati Metro for the woman world cup is always in the top 5 in the country. Girls soccer in the metro area has I believe the 2nd most participants in the youth system in the country. Cincinnati also has produced several US woman's world cup players Heather Mitts Rose Lavelle ECT.So not so much having a established men's team would not deter attendance to a woman's team.The built in soccer culture in Cincinnati is already there for a successful NWSL franchise.
June 12, 20241 yr Having all the built- in infrastructure is nice. I think NWSL will be looking for virgin or semi-virgin territory. Why attempt to carve out a niche in an already saturated market? That’s not the way to do it if you’re trying to grow your market.
June 12, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, ucnum1 said: Cincinnati NWSL expansion bid is from FC Cincinnati ownership.They already have the training facilities for a woman's franchise plus probably the top soccer specific stadium in the country.Add in TQL Stadium has hosted the US woman's national teams to a sold out venue multiple times in the last 3 years.Id say the Cincinnati bid is the heavy odds on favorite for this next expansion team. The consensus on reddit was Cincy and MSP are in the lead.
June 12, 20241 yr 44 minutes ago, Cleveland Rising said: Having all the built- in infrastructure is nice. I think NWSL will be looking for virgin or semi-virgin territory. Why attempt to carve out a niche in an already saturated market? That’s not the way to do it if you’re trying to grow your market. I hope that you're right because I'd love for Cleveland to get this, but looking at the recent NWSL additions, they do seem to be targeting MLS markets. The last 5 expansion teams share a market with an MLS or soon-to-be MLS team, and 4 of those teams share a stadium. The best analogy for Cleveland's bid would probably be Louisville, whose team shares its venue with a USL Men's team and plays in a new, smaller soccer-specific stadium. However, that stadium was already under construction when Louisville was awarded their NWSL team, while Cleveland's isn't even funded yet. Edited June 12, 20241 yr by acd
June 12, 20241 yr 16 minutes ago, acd said: I hope that you're right because I'd love for Cleveland to get this, but looking at the recent NWSL additions, they do seem to be targeting MLS markets. The last 5 expansion teams share a market with an MLS or soon-to-be MLS team, and 4 of those teams share a stadium. The best analogy for Cleveland's bid would probably be Louisville, whose team shares its venue with a USL Men's team and plays in a new, smaller soccer-specific stadium. However, that stadium was already under construction when Louisville was awarded their NWSL team, while Cleveland's isn't even funded yet. Cincinnati bid also has built in investor billionaires Meg Whitman 5 billion plus.With any league the net worth of any ownership group might be the most important factor for gaining a expansion team.
June 12, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, Cleveland Rising said: Having all the built- in infrastructure is nice. I think NWSL will be looking for virgin or semi-virgin territory. Why attempt to carve out a niche in an already saturated market? That’s not the way to do it if you’re trying to grow your market. I wouldn’t call Cincy a soccer saturated market, looking at the metrics it seems far from it. I get your point tho. A Cleveland franchise would be in a market solo which has some positives. Problem is at this point they are probably better off with these early franchises being in more established soccer markets with already built facilities and well developed MLS fan bases to hitch on to and once more growth happens then focus on cities like Cleveland. Whats interesting is the Cincy bid has been under the radar, From what I’m told they definitely wanted a women’s team but not necessarily this next one up for grabs. Now that it seems Cincy is all in they are probably gonna get it. But who knows, might be Minneapolis too. But Cleveland has a shot and with MLS in Columbus and Cincy it may make some sense.
June 12, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, Cleveland Rising said: I don’t get my news….sporting or otherwise from Reddit. FYI There's tons of good articles linked to r/mls
June 12, 20241 yr Maybe I'm just a naive optimist, but I think Cleveland has a better shot at an NWSL team than we're making it seem. Cleveland submitted a bid back in 2022, and there's undoubtedly much more noise about the bid this time around. As someone mentioned, Cleveland is a completely untapped market for both professional soccer and women's sports as a whole. With the current women's sports boom, Cleveland is a prime market in my opinion. Minnesota already has the USLW team (who's trying to earn the promotion to the NWSL with this bid), an already established MLS team and the Minnesota Lynx WNBA team. Also already having the Vikings, Timberwolves, Twins, and Wild, how many more franchises can Minneapolis-St. Paul support? They are the 16th largest CSA, and Cleveland CSA is the 17th largest with only Cavs, Guardians, Browns, and Monsters. Cincinnati has an MLS team with Louisville's NWSL team only 1 Hour and 45 minutes away. While, Cincy has a solid soccer resume, that's a ton of market overlap for a a league with only 16 teams. Worth mentioning Columbus has an MLS team, but I'm not sure how much that affects things. But to put it in perspective, the closest current NWSL teams to us are Louisville and Chicago. Both 5 hour drives. While they said that they wouldn't add a team in states where abortion access was under threat, Ohio's amendment we voted on last year gives us some of the strongest protections in the country, from what I understand. Even with all that drama, the state already committed the symbolic $1 million towards the stadium, and I think that counts for something.
June 12, 20241 yr Prior to today I was somewhat confident based on what Cleveland Soccer Group's Michael Murphy was proposing and saying BUT after reading all of these posts today Cincinnati looks like they have the inside track. They have a 25000 seat MLS stadium which they would share. They have the fanbase which i assume would support NWSL and the have a bigtime investor. Cleveland on the other has an idea about a stadium which is not yet funded and we don't know when we would find shovels in the ground when it becomes funded and if it would be finished in time for the 2026 season. Dan Gilbert is supportive of the idea but nowhere has it been mentioned that he is part of the investment group. ( This I believe is a must ) WE have 13K pledges. So who would you chose if you were the expansion committee.
June 12, 20241 yr I have no idea who has an edge but our regional population and media market is much bigger than Cincinnati. We’re just under Minneapolis and Miami. Edited June 12, 20241 yr by coneflower
June 12, 20241 yr @Zagapi Thanks for saying what I wanted to say. You put it in so much of an eloquent manner. The above comments are all valid points, but watch for Cleveland to make a late push and win this franchise. If we don’t, I will apologize to everyone.
June 15, 20241 yr If the statement about reproductive rights is correct Cleveland and Cincinnati are both out. Ohio is hostile to women.
June 15, 20241 yr 2 hours ago, Mogradal said: If the statement about reproductive rights is correct Cleveland and Cincinnati are both out. Ohio is hostile to women. We just passed some of the strongest protections for reproductive rights in the country into our state constitution.
June 26, 2024Jun 26 Irish News Magazine Story. https://iirish.us/this-just-in-update-on-bringing-national-womens-soccer-league-to-cleveland/
June 26, 2024Jun 26 I just posted this article to the Cleveland Subreddit. I was fighting for my life when I posted Ken's article about the stadium announcement lol. That sub is a cesspool of negativity. Even had someone reply with an antisemitic conspiracy theory on that post! I made sure to emphasize that this will be a publicly owned stadium. Everyone an their brother had something to say about billionaires and us giving them stadiums. Which I agree with generally, but it wasn't super clear at the time. Hopefully this time goes better. I really want this to happen, and I want folks to be excited about it!
June 26, 2024Jun 26 Columbus Crew ALMOST played in Cleveland against Messi. Maybe in the future games can be played. https://www.news5cleveland.com/sports/local-sports/how-cleveland-browns-stadium-nearly-hosted-superstar-lionel-messi-and-how-soccer-might-be-part-of-future-plans
June 27, 2024Jun 27 3 hours ago, Zagapi said: I just posted this article to the Cleveland Subreddit. I was fighting for my life when I posted Ken's article about the stadium announcement lol. That sub is a cesspool of negativity. Even had someone reply with an antisemitic conspiracy theory on that post! I made sure to emphasize that this will be a publicly owned stadium. Everyone an their brother had something to say about billionaires and us giving them stadiums. Which I agree with generally, but it wasn't super clear at the time. Hopefully this time goes better. I really want this to happen, and I want folks to be excited about it! Well, it's pretty miserable still, but not as bad last time lmao. https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/s/6fJXzWLnJ3
June 29, 2024Jun 29 Cincinnati thinks thy are in. https://cincinnatisoccertalk.com/2024/06/13/nwsl-to-cincy-confirmed-what-that-could-all-mean/
June 29, 2024Jun 29 1 hour ago, simplythis said: Cincinnati thinks thy are in. https://cincinnatisoccertalk.com/2024/06/13/nwsl-to-cincy-confirmed-what-that-could-all-mean/ All Cincinnati has to do for a NWSL team is build a new training facility at their current facility that's probably a $45-50 million dollar investment and pay the expansion fee for a new team.Thier current stadium already has a woman's locker room built in for woman's soccer.Cincinnati has been planning and building to accommodate a woman's pro team for several years. Building a brand new stadium training facilities without financing in place for such is quite a ways away from where Cincinnati is at
July 15, 2024Jul 15 Cleveland awarded a team in the new tier 3 WPSL pro league which is to start in 2025. https://wpslpro.com/wpsl-pro-moves-into-northeast-ohio-ahead-of-2025-launch/
July 15, 2024Jul 15 If I'm reading the article correct, it's a different league entirely than the NWSL team and a new league set to launch in 2025.
July 17, 2024Jul 17 Geez. I hope this sale doesn't establish the bar for the 2026 Expansion Fee bar because that means it would have gone from 50m to 250m https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40576513/willow-bay-disney-ceo-iger-take-majority-stake-angel-city
July 19, 2024Jul 19 Cleveland Soccer Group eyes Notre Dame College for training Facility. https://www.crainscleveland.com/sports-recreation/cleveland-soccer-group-bids-notre-dame-college-campus
July 20, 2024Jul 20 I know that crainscleveland is paywalled for some so here is channel 5 story. https://www.news5cleveland.com/sports/local-sports/cleveland-soccer-group-looking-to-use-notre-dame-college-as-training-facility
July 21, 2024Jul 21 8 hours ago, simplythis said: I know that crainscleveland is paywalled for some so here is channel 5 story. https://www.news5cleveland.com/sports/local-sports/cleveland-soccer-group-looking-to-use-notre-dame-college-as-training-facility There's way more to this story, and way more stakeholders involved with this buy. I'm surprised everyone missed the other pieces to this stakeholder group and their plans with the other parts of the campus.
July 31, 2024Jul 31 Cleveland or Cincinnati? https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2024/07/29/cincinnati--cleveland-up-for-next-nwsl-team
August 8, 2024Aug 8 15 women investors back Cleveland’s NWSL bid By Ken Prendergast / August 8, 2024 Cleveland Soccer Group (CSG), which submitted a bid for Cleveland to be awarded a National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) expansion team, announced today that it is being backed by a group of 15 local, influential businesswomen as investors. However, the money they have raised thus far has not be publicly disclosed. If successful, this would be Ohio’s first women’s professional soccer team. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2024/08/08/15-women-investors-back-clevelands-nwsl-bid/ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 8, 2024Aug 8 I’d say this is a powerful group, an ownership group that could really challenge the Lindner’s FC Cincinnati ownership group. (although I would never doubt the Lindner’s ability to pull together a similar group if they felt they needed to and probably could worth the amount of large companies in Cincinnati)
August 8, 2024Aug 8 With the browns leaving, does it make it more likely that Cleveland will want to have a soccer stadium downtown and be willing to subsidize a bit? I feel like has to impact it a little.
August 8, 2024Aug 8 Tear it down, build a smaller soccer-focused stadium (for all large mens and womens soccer related matches in NEO) surrounded by dense development but focus heavily on family oriented public spaces, and that area immediately becomes more vibrant than anything the Browns have ever done. Soccer is growing in America. Capitalize on it now, and we'll look back and laugh at how irrelevant the Browns moving truly was for the city
August 13, 2024Aug 13 Some tidbits https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/08/09/cleveland-nwsl-bid-investors
August 14, 2024Aug 14 Notre Dame College update. https://www.cleveland19.com/2024/08/14/potential-new-purpose-notre-dame-college-after-it-closed-its-doors-this-spring/
August 22, 2024Aug 22 I don't know if this is bad news or not. https://www.sportico.com/leagues/soccer/2024/nwsl-expansion-cleveland-cincinnati-denver-bidders-1234794059/ At the bottom of the article. (This story has been corrected in the headline and the second paragraph to remove Cleveland from the list of potential expansion groups with meetings in New York. While a Cleveland group is actively seeking an NWSL expansion team, Sportico cannot confirm that it definitely met with the league this week. The story has also been updated in the 10th paragraph to clarify the Angel City valuation in July’s stake sale.)
August 22, 2024Aug 22 I think it's fine, establish a massive amount of hype and support and keep at it until NWSL realizes the hype is real and long lasting. Doesn't hurt the other cities already have soccer specific stadiums.
August 25, 2024Aug 25 I didn’t realize Dan Gilbert was part of our bid. They also are part of promoting Tennis in the Land, the women’s pro tennis tournament that just wrapped up. Intriguing and very cool. I actually think some of this stuff could help us attract more people to move here, especially folks who aren’t into the traditional sports or are passionate about women’s sports specifically.
August 26, 2024Aug 26 On 8/8/2024 at 1:27 PM, YO to the CLE said: Tear it down, build a smaller soccer-focused stadium (for all large mens and womens soccer related matches in NEO) surrounded by dense development but focus heavily on family oriented public spaces, and that area immediately becomes more vibrant than anything the Browns have ever done. Soccer is growing in America. Capitalize on it now, and we'll look back and laugh at how irrelevant the Browns moving truly was for the city Part of me thinks that the stadium situations in America are out of control. It's sad our soccer bids are contingent on new stadiums. We already have a stadium. There's really no reason that a pro football plus a pro mens, and a pro women's soccer team couldn't share a stadium. That's what they do in Seattle. But the general trend seems to be that of KC. 3 pro teams, and each has it's own stadium. However, knowing that that's not how things work, I really like the idea of a soccer stadium downtown!
August 26, 2024Aug 26 1 minute ago, Dino said: There's really no reason that a pro football plus a pro mens, and a pro women's soccer team couldn't share a stadium. Can I quote myself? I guess I can! I believe that soccer will grow immensely in America over the next ten years. MLS is thriving, Apple + and Peacock are giving the sport more exposure here than ever before, and then the World Cup in 2026 should be big. Average attendance at MLS games are already at 22,000, which is already more than the capacity of Columbus' brand new soccer specific stadium. Columbus even considered moving a recent game (featuring Lionel Messi) to Browns Stadium, and recent Premier League friendly to Ohio Stadium, because the stadium in Columbus didn't have enough capacity. I don't think it's far fetched to envision 40,000+ crowds at soccer games ten years from now.
August 26, 2024Aug 26 18 minutes ago, Dino said: I believe that soccer will grow immensely in America over the next ten years. We've been hearing that for fifty years plus. It hasn't happened. Football, basketball, and even baseball are more entertaining spectator sports. They are also seen as "American" and that makes a difference. Soccer won't join the level of those three unless and until the US wins a mens' World Cup Edited August 26, 2024Aug 26 by E Rocc
August 26, 2024Aug 26 8 minutes ago, E Rocc said: We've been hearing that for fifty years plus. It hasn't happened. Football, basketball, and even baseball are more entertaining spectator sports. They are also seen as "American" and that makes a difference. Soccer won't join the level of those three unless and until the US wins a mens' World Cup How many professional soccer teams existed in America 50 years ago? How many are there today?
August 26, 2024Aug 26 1 hour ago, E Rocc said: Football, basketball, and even baseball are more entertaining spectator sports. I suggest you take a trip down to Columbus or Cincinnati. The stadiums are beautiful and the games are a ton of fun. The energy level is insane. In my opinion Soccer has certainly surpassed baseball in regards to entertainment. I laughed several months ago when I read an article about MLB expansion (Nashville Etc.) , the leagues does NOT need more franchises yikes. Edited August 26, 2024Aug 26 by 646empire
August 26, 2024Aug 26 59 minutes ago, E Rocc said: We've been hearing that for fifty years plus. It hasn't happened. Football, basketball, and even baseball are more entertaining spectator sports. They are also seen as "American" and that makes a difference. Soccer won't join the level of those three unless and until the US wins a mens' World Cup I also think pickleball is dumb but every summer more and more people are playing it! It’s been awhile but I went to DC United games at the old RFK stadium and the fans were much different than you’d see at an NFL game. It reminded me of all the kids who scoffed at sports in high school (not meant as an insult!). It was fun!
August 26, 2024Aug 26 Just a reminder that NWSL averages +10 k per game with attendance increasing almost 50% year after year. The San Diego team averages 20,194 fans per game! https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/attendance-viewership-engagement-soar-at-halfway-mark-of-2024-nwsl
August 26, 2024Aug 26 We can put the Soccer in America/MLS debate to rest now. The MLS expansion fee has hit 500 Million dollars add in a stadium and it’ll run you about 800 mil-ish. Soccer is now real in the USA period. Edited August 26, 2024Aug 26 by 646empire
August 26, 2024Aug 26 1 hour ago, E Rocc said: We've been hearing that for fifty years plus. It hasn't happened. Football, basketball, and even baseball are more entertaining spectator sports. They are also seen as "American" and that makes a difference. Soccer won't join the level of those three unless and until the US wins a mens' World Cup No trying to be jerk, but you are so wrong
August 26, 2024Aug 26 With all the BS with the Browns stadium as well as their continual mediocrity, maybe we will become a soccer city. One can only hope and pray.
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